Now, under section 43 of the Criminal Code, corporal punishment in schools
is no longer considered reasonable discipline and therefore any
policy allowing it had to be rescinded.

"There is an exemption in the legislation that exempts parents and
teachers from an assault charge but they have redefined what is
acceptable and what is not," said deputy Supt. Sheldon Rowe.
"It is still acceptable for a teacher to remove a student
from class but corporal punishment is not acceptable because it
uses a weapon."

Defined as "the application of a strap to the inside of the hands of a
student," corporal punishment has always been fraught with
controversy but was used as more of a threat than an actual
punishment.

Written parental approval was required before the strap was administered.

"The use of it at all of our schools will have to end and all the
principals have been informed of that," Rowe said, noting it
was still only ever a consideration at the Hutterite colony
schools and even then was used very rarely.

"I was a teacher and principal for 27 years and only used it three times myself but sometimes it was needed as a last resort."

With the end of the policy, all straps will have to be removed from schools
immediately.

"They will have to be removed completely from all of our
buildings," said chief deputy Supt. Don Jenkins. "In
the past, it was always used more as a threat than as a
weapon."